Hypoxic fire prevention and fire suppression systems for computer cabinets and fire-hazardous industrial containers

ABSTRACT

Fire prevention and suppression system is provided for computer cabinets and fire-hazardous containers. The equipment of the system provides low-oxygen environments at standard atmospheric pressure. The system employs an oxygen-extraction apparatus that supplies oxygen-depleted air inside an enclosed area communicating with the device. A fire-extinguishing composition is provided for continuous use in computer cabinets and fire-hazardous containers, consisting of oxygen-depleted air having oxygen content below 12%.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This invention is related to preceding U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,652 issuedSept. 1, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,439 issued Mar. 30, 1999, U.S. Pat.No. 5,924,419 of Jul. 20, 1999 and is continuation in part of the U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/551,026 filed on Apr. 17, 2000.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a process and equipment for providinglow-oxygen (hypoxic) environments inside a computer cabinet or containerwith combustible or explosive material in order to prevent or suppressfire before it starts.

The demand in reliable fire prevention and suppression systems forindustrial applications has been always very high and is growingextensively, especially with the explosive development of Internet,computerized equipment and communication systems. The invented FirePrevention And Suppression System can be used in any possibleapplication where a non-occupied environment requires protection fromfire hazard or explosion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

At the present time there are no products on the market that would allowto prevent fire from igniting inside computer cabinets or otherindustrial enclosures containing inflammable or explosive materials. Acomputer or server produces a lot of heat inside its enclosure orcabinet, mainly due to friction and overheating of electroniccomponents. At any time a malfunction of an electronic component orshort circuit may cause fire and extensive damage. A spark inside a fuelcontainer at gas station or tanker may cause immediate explosion. Allcurrent fire prevention and suppression systems are design in order tosuppress fire after its starts, which might be too late. Current firesuppression systems are destructive for computerized equipment andcannot guarantee that fire will not start.

There are millions of powerful computers around the world, owned bylarge corporations, banks, communication companies, military andgovernment agencies, many of them loosing millions of dollars in justone such fire.

There is no prior art on fire protection systems build inside a computercabinet or fire hazardous container. The process and equipment describedin this invention can guarantee that no fire will be able to startinside such computer cabinet or container having internal atmospherewith oxygen content under 10%.

The invention described in this document will prevent huge financial andenvironmental losses from industrial fires and will save many lives offire fighters and general public.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A principal object of this invention is to provide a method forproducing a fire safe hypoxic environment inside a computer cabinet orcontainer with combustible, inflammable or explosive materials.

Further object of the present invention is the provision of anoxygen-depletion process and an apparatus for producing a low-oxygenenvironment inside a computer cabinet or industrial container, suchequipment employing molecular-sieve adsorption or membrane-separationtechnologies.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a fire-retardingoxygen-depleted environment inside a computer room or industrialfacility at standard, slightly reduced or increased atmospheric pressureand having oxygen content fewer than 10%.

Another object of this invention is to establish fire safe hypoxicenvironments inside computer cabinets or containers with combustible,inflammable or explosive materials by providing constant ventilation ofsuch enclosures with oxygen-depleted air in order to remove heat and/orexplosive fumes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the most preferred embodiment of the fire safe computercabinet.

FIG. 2 illustrates schematically a working principle of the inventedhypoxic fire prevention and suppression system employing hypoxicgenerator in extraction mode.

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically an alternative working principle of theinvented hypoxic fire prevention and suppression system employinghypoxic generator in supply mode.

FIG. 4 presents a schematic view of a working principle of hypoxicgenerator employing nitrogen adsorbing molecular-sieve material andPressure-swing adsorption technology.

FIG. 5 presents a schematic view of a working principle of hypoxicgenerator employing oxygen adsorbing molecular-sieve material andPressure-swing adsorption technology.

FIG. 6 shows schematically working principle of hypoxic generatoremploying Membrane air-separation technology.

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic view of an industrial container filledwith highly inflammable fluid.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that combustion process requires oxygen, therefore thegoal of this invention is to provide an extreme hypoxic normbaricenvironment inside a computer cabinet or any container in order toeliminate fire hazard completely.

This invention is based on a discovery made by the inventor duringresearch with the Hypoxic Room System made by Hypoxico Inc. in New York.It was discovered that a normbaric hypoxic environment provides adifferent effect on ignition and combustion process than hypobaric ornatural altitude environments with the same partial pressure of oxygen.For example, gasoline or any gas lighter would ignite and bum on analtitude of 19,000′ (5,800 m) in the air having partial pressure ofoxygen at 2.99″ (76 mm) of mercury.

However, if we create a corresponding normbaric hypoxic environment withthe same partial pressure of oxygen at 2.99″ or 76 mm of mercury, wewill find that gasoline will not burn or even ignite. Any attempt toignite it would fail because even a gaslighter or gas torch would notignite in this environment. It means that normbaric environments withcorresponding oxygen content of 10% are absolutely safe against any firehazard.

This invention provides reliable and inexpensive process and equipmentfor producing such fire-retarding environment inside a computer cabinetor container with fire hazardous material.

FIG. 1 shows the most preferred embodiment of the fire safe computercabinet system 10 consisting of cabinet enclosure 11 having (in thiscase clear) door 18 and air intake openings 16 and filled with computerequipment or components 17, further having hypoxic generator 12 mountedon the top of the cabinet enclosure 11.

FIG. 2 shows schematically a working principle of the invented hypoxicfire prevention and suppression system 10 employing hypoxic generator inextraction mode.

The fire safe computer cabinet system 10 consists of a computer rack orcabinet enclosure 11 filled with computer devices or components andhypoxic generator 12 mounted directly on cabinet enclosure 11 and havingair intake 13 and outlets 14 and 15. Computer cabinet 11 does not haveto be absolutely airtight—it has multiple openings or holes 16,preferably in its lower portion. Openings 16 are shown schematically forbetter understanding of air circulation inside cabinet 11. In realitythere is no need for special openings because air will always be able toenter cabinet through gaps around the door or through semi-airtightenclosure.

Hypoxic generator 12 draws air from the cabinet 11 through the intake 13and extracts a part of oxygen from it allowing oxygen depleted air backinto cabinet 11 through outlet 14. Oxygen-enriched gas mixture isdisposed into atmosphere through disposal outlet 15. This processcreates a slightly negative pressure inside cabinet 11 that works as adriving force for intaking fresh air through the openings 16, in orderto equalize atmospheric pressures inside and outside of cabinet 11.Therefore semi-airtight cabinet 11 and even holes 16 in it areabsolutely necessary functional components of this fire-retardingsystem.

Hypoxic generator starts working when door 18 is closed. At thebeginning, the oxygen-enriched gas being removed from the system throughdisposal outlet 15 has a little higher oxygen content (about 30%) thanambient air entering cabinet 11 through holes 16 (20.94% at sea level).It means that oxygen content inside cabinet 11 will start dropping to acertain level below 10%. At the same time the oxygen content in thedisposal fraction will also decrease to about ambient air level. Thehigher oxygen content in the disposal fraction, the lower will be theoxygen content inside cabinet 11. The lowest possible oxygen contentinside cabinet 11 will be about 4.5%. Most important in the inventedsystem is that it does not affect air composition in the room where thesystem 10 is installed. After oxygen content in cabinet 11 drops todesired level, the system 10 becomes balanced and will extractcomposition with oxygen content close to ambient air.

When oxygen content inside cabinet 11 drops below 7%, which will bedetected by oxygen transducer 19 installed inside cabinet 11, hypoxicgenerator 12 turns off in order to save energy. When, after some time,oxygen content inside cabinet 11 reaches about 12%, transducer 19 willturn on hypoxic generator 12 again, and so further in cycles. Expensiveoxygen transducer 19 is optional and can be replaced by a simple timer,which can turn on and off hypoxic generator 12 in preset intervals oftime.

An air-cooling device 20 is installed in order to reduce temperatureinside cabinet 11. The device 20 consists of thermoelectric modulehaving cold sink plate 22 inside cabinet 11 and heat sink 21 outsidecabinet 11. Big advantage of thermoelectric modules is the absence ofrefrigerant or any moving parts. Working principle of a thermoelectriccooler is well known and such devices are available on the market.Suitable device with high-performance thermoelectric module andhigh-fin-density cold sink and heat sink can be bought from TETechnology Inc. in Michigan, U.S.A.

It is advisable to direct the gas flow from outlet 14 against the coldsink 22 of the cooler 20 in order to provide better circulation of coldgas mixture inside cabinet 11 and better cooling of electroniccomponents 17. Cooler 20 can be equipped with a simple thermostat thatwill control temperature inside cabinet 11 and save energy by turningoff the cooler 20 when desired low temperature is reached.

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically an alternative working principle of theinvented hypoxic fire prevention and suppression system 30 employinghypoxic generator 32 in supply mode. This embodiment does not changeanything in design of cabinet 11 and all other components. The onlydifference is in configuration of hypoxic generator 32 that is the sameas generator 12, but connected different way to cabinet 11.

Hypoxic generator 32 takes in ambient air through intake 33 andseparates it into oxygen-depleted fraction being transmitted insidecabinet 11 through outlet 34 and oxygen-enriched fraction being disposedinto atmosphere through disposal outlet 35. This way cabinet 11 becomesconstantly ventilated with low-oxygen gas mixture. Hypoxic generatorshown below on FIG. 4 will be available in 2001 from Hypoxico Inc. inNew York. It can provide oxygen-depleted air with any oxygenconcentration in the range from 5% to 10%, which can be exactly presetat the factory.

The oxygen-depleted air entering cabinet 11 through outlet 34 isdirected against cold sink 22 of the thermoelectric cooler 20 and sinksfurther down to the bottom of cabinet 11. In this embodiment openings 16are moved to the higher position in order to exhaust warm gas mixtureinstead of cool one at the bottom of cabinet. This way, an effective aircirculation inside cabinet 11 is assured, providing better cooling ofcomputer components 17. The invented system 30 is entirely safe becausedisposal fraction having only slightly increased oxygen content of about30% is instantly dissociated in the surrounding atmosphere. The system30 does not affect air composition in surrounding atmosphere in any waybecause the oxygen amount in both fractions exiting the system isequivalent to the amount of oxygen in the air entering the system.Constant ventilation of the internal environment allows to remove heatfrom cabinet 11. This embodiment is most suitable for fire-hazardouscontainers because constant ventilation will allow removing of explosivefumes.

All parts of the systems 10 and 30 are shown schematically, in order toprovide better understanding of the working principle. For instance,thermoelectric cooler 20 could be build in the air supply line beforeoutlet 14 or 34, or hypoxic generator could be a free-standing unitconnected with cabinet 11 through air conduits. Computer rack enclosure11 can be computer cabinet or container with fire-hazardous materials.Transducer or timer 19 and cooler 20 are optional in some applications.

Other oxygen-extraction devices employing molecular-sieve adsorption,membrane-separation or other technologies can be used instead on hypoxicgenerator 12 or 32 in the invented system. However, it is highlyrecommended to use reliable hypoxic generators specially designed byHypoxico Inc. in New York.

FIG. 4 presents a schematic view of a working principle of hypoxicgenerator HYP-10/PSA/Z employing Pressure-swing adsorption technology,which will be available from Hypoxico Inc. in New York in 2001. Thishypoxic generator 40 produces about 10 liters per minute of hypoxic airwith preset oxygen content in the product between 5% and 10%. Miniaturehypoxic generators producing 0.5 to 5 liters per minute will beavailable for smaller cabinets as well. All these generators employmolecular-sieve materials, mainly synthetic zeolites that adsorbnitrogen and allow oxygen to pass through the adsorbing material.

Compressor 41 draws ambient air through intake filter 42 and pressurizesit to about 15 psi or 1 bar. Further compressed air is chilled in aircooler 43 and transmitted through high-efficiency air filter 44 intodistribution valve 45 mounted on manifold 46.

3 elongated containers 47 with molecular sieve material are mounted onmanifold 46 the way that pressurized air is selectively and in cyclesdelivered into each container 47 allowing to pressurize them for severalseconds at about 15 psi or 1 bar. Number of containers 47 may vary from1 to 12 or more and they can be pressurized individually or in groups.On the other end all containers are interconnected with a collectingtank 48 having release valve 49.

Under pressure molecular sieve material in containers 47 allowsoxygen-enriched fraction to pass through into tank 48, adsorbingremaining air gases, including mostly nitrogen and water vapors.Oxygen-enriched fraction is disposed into atmosphere through releasevalve 49 and disposal outlet 50. Distribution valve 45 continuously incycling manner redirects the flow of compressed air from one containerto two others. After several seconds of pressurization the molecularsieve material in container A becomes saturated with nitrogen-enrichedfraction. At this time distribution valve 45 takes first position byopening container A for depressurization and redirects the flow ofcompressed air into containers B and C.

The nitrogen-enriched fraction from container A is transmitted insidemanifold 46 into product outlet 51 having recycling loop 52. Part ofnitrogen-rich product is transmitted through recycling loop 52 back intocompressor intake 42. This allows significantly increasing efficiency ofthe hypoxic generator 40 without increasing working pressure, powerconsumption and weight. Low working pressure allows extending compressorlife up to 5 years or more without any maintenance. Recycling loop 52 isonly active for generators in supply mode as shown in embodiment 30 andis closed in generators working in extraction mode as shown on FIG. 2.

During the depressurization cycle of container A, a small amount ofoxygen-enriched fraction being kept in tank 48 under minimal pressure byvalve 49 is released back into container A, purging it fromcontaminating nitrogen.

Second position of distribution valve 45 sets containers C and A underpressure, depressurizing container B and transmitting its content intoproduct outlet 51.

Third and last position of distribution valve 45 opens container C fordepressurization and directs compressed air into containers A and B.

There is large selection of suitable distribution valves available onthe market: from mechanical and electric to solenoid and air-piloted,both linear and rotary types. For this reason, working principles ofthese devices will be not explained in this work further. It is notdifficult for those skilled in the art to find suitable valve andmanifold for any number of containers 47 or their groups.

FIG. 5 presents a schematic view of an alternative working principle ofhypoxic generator 60 employing the same Pressure-swing adsorptiontechnology, but different adsorbent that adsorbs oxygen and allowsnitrogen to pass through the adsorbing material. Carbon molecular-sievematerial (CMSO2) has tiny hollow traps in its porous structure called“bottlenecks” that allow oxygen molecules to get in under pressure. Mostof oxygen molecules being “trapped” inside such “bottlenecks” cannotfind their way out in their chaotic movements. This technology is wellknown to those skilled in the art and is used in nitrogen generators.

Most of the components of the generator 60 are the same as in embodiment40 and their working principle will not be described again. The onlydifference in this embodiment is that product and disposal outletsreplace each other.

Compressed air pressurizes selectively containers 64 with oxygenadsorbing molecular-sieve material that allows nitrogen-enrichedfraction to pass through into product outlet 61 via collecting tank 48and release valve 49. A part of the product is returned back into system60 through recycling conduit 62. Oxygen-enriched adsorbat is releasedinto atmosphere through disposal outlet 63.

Hypoxic generators 12 and 32 may also employ oxygen-enrichment membrane70 that is schematically shown on FIG. 6. Usually such membranes aremade as elongated container filled with synthetic hollow fibers thatpermit oxygen under pressure through their walls and allownitrogen-enriched fraction to pass through the hollow fibers.

Compressed air enters membrane 70 through inlet 71 and is separatedthere into oxygen-enriched permeate being disposed through outlet 73 andhypoxic product delivered via product release valve 72.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment 80 of the invented Fire Prevention andSuppression System. A fire-hazardous industrial container 81 containshighly inflammable liquid (alcohol, acetone, gasoline, kerosene, liquidgas, paint, etc.) or dry fire-hazardous and explosive materials.Container 81 can be any industrial container, including stationary andmobile fuel tanks, sea tankers and cargo ships, underground fuel tanksat gas stations, dip and quench tanks, spray and coatings containers,spill containment dikes, storage enclosures and cabinets and othercontainers with fire hazardous materials and compositions.

Hypoxic generator 83 can be installed directly on container 81 likeshown in embodiments 10 and 30 or at remote location, as shown on FIG.7. It is advisable for such cases to use hypoxic generator in supplymode as shown in embodiment 30.

Hypoxic generator 83 supplies oxygen-depleted air into tank 81 having ahatch or entry 82 and/or vent 85. Heavy nitrogen rich product coverssurface of the inflammable liquid and fills the rest of the container 81replacing explosive vapors being expelled from container 81 through vent85 or ventilation hole in hatch 82. Waste gas containing enriched-oxygenfraction is disposed from generator 83 into atmosphere.

Such fire-retarding environment can be kept inside tank 81 permanentlyby supplying nitrogen rich product in necessary intervals—after firesafe environment with the lowest oxygen content is established,generator 83 can be shut down and turned on again by a timing device.

The invented technology should be applied for ventilating undergroundcommunication tunnels, mining facilities, munitions and missile bunkers,underground military installations and other facilities in order toremove explosive gases and replace them with fire safe hypoxic air.

1. A system for providing a fire-extinguishing atmosphere in enclosedenvironments, said system comprising: an industrial container containinga fire-hazardous material; a compressor having an inlet and a compressedgas outlet; an air separation device having an intake and first andsecond outlets, said intake is operatively associated with saidcompressed gas outlet and receiving an intake gas under pressure fromsaid compressor; said device taking in said intake gas and emitting areduced-oxygen gas mixture having a lower concentration of oxygen thansaid intake gas through said first outlet and enriched-oxygen gasmixture having a greater concentration of oxygen than said intake gasthrough said second outlet; said first outlet providing a fire-retardinggas mixture for said enclosed environments with oxygen content below12%, but greater than 9%, wherein said enclosed environment comprisessaid industrial container and said first outlet is coupled to saidindustrial container; said second outlet selectively communicating withoutside atmosphere and releasing said enriched-oxygen gas mixture intosaid outside atmosphere; said air separation device employing amolecular-sieve adsorber and said intake being operatively associatedwith a distribution valve providing distribution of said intake gas tomultiple inlets each communicating with an individual gas separationcontainer filled with molecular-sieve material that under pressureadsorbs nitrogen and water vapors and allows said enriched-oxygen gasmixture to pass through into collecting tank communicating with saidsecond outlet; said collecting tank being operatively associated withall said separation containers and receiving selectively saidenriched-oxygen gas mixture therefrom; said separation containers beingselectively pressurized and depressurized in cycles and releasing duringeach depressurization cycle said reduced-oxygen gas mixture beingdelivered into said first outlet; said second outlet having releasevalve allowing to keep said enriched-oxygen gas mixture being collectedin said collecting tank under increased atmospheric pressure, so whenany of said separation containers depressurizes, a portion of saidenriched-oxygen gas mixture is released from said tank back into saidcontainer purging said molecular sieve material from remaining nitrogenand water.
 2. A system for producing a fire-extinguishing atmosphere inenclosed environments, said system comprising: an industrial containercontaining a fire-hazardous material; a compressor having an inlet and acompressed gas outlet; an air separation device having an intake andfirst and second outlets, said intake is operatively associated withsaid compressed gas outlet and receiving an intake gas under pressurefrom said compressor; said device taking in said intake gas and emittinga reduced-oxygen gas mixture having a lower concentration of oxygen thansaid intake gas through said first outlet and enriched-oxygen gasmixture having a greater concentration of oxygen than said intake gasthrough said second outlet; said first outlet providing a fire-retardinggas mixture for said enclosed environments with oxygen content below12%, but greater than 9%, wherein said enclosed environment comprisessaid industrial container and said first outlet is coupled to saidindustrial container; said second outlet selectively communicating withoutside atmosphere and releasing said enriched-oxygen gas mixture intosaid outside atmosphere; said air separation device employing amolecular-sieve adsorber and said intake being operatively associatedwith a distribution valve providing distribution of said intake gas tomultiple inlets each communicating with an individual gas separationcontainer filled with molecular-sieve material that under pressureadsorbs oxygen and allows said reduced-oxygen gas mixture to passthrough into collecting tank communicating with said first outlet; saidcollecting tank being operatively associated with all said separationcontainers and receiving selectively said reduced-oxygen gas mixturetherefrom; said separation containers being selectively pressurized anddepressurized in cycles and releasing during each depressurization cyclesaid enriched-oxygen gas mixture being delivered into said secondoutlet.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 and said distributionvalve being air distribution device selected from the group consistingof electrical, mechanical, air piloted and solenoid valves, both linearand rotary configuration, with actuators controlled by pressure,mechanical spring, motor and timer; said distribution valve beingcommunicating with and mounted on manifold that is selectivelycommunicating with said multiple separation containers and said firstoutlet, and selectively allowing periodic access of pressurized airinside said containers and exit of said reduced-oxygen gas mixturetherefrom.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 2 and said distributionvalve being air distribution device selected from the group consistingof electrical, mechanical, air piloted and solenoid valves, both linearand rotary configuration, with actuators controlled by pressure,mechanical spring, motor and timer; said distribution valve beingcommunicating with and mounted on manifold that is selectivelycommunicating with said multiple separation containers and said secondoutlet, and selectively allowing periodic access of pressurized airinside said containers and exit of said enriched-oxygen gas mixturetherefrom.
 5. An apparatus for producing a fire-extinguishing atmospherein enclosed environments, said apparatus comprising: an industrialcontainer containing fire-hazardous material; a compressor having aninlet and a compressed gas outlet; an air separation device having anintake and first and second outlets, said intake is operativelyassociated with said compressed gas outlet and receiving an intake gasunder pressure from said compressor; said device taking in said intakegas and emitting a reduced-oxygen gas mixture having a lowerconcentration of oxygen than said intake gas through said first outletand enriched-oxygen gas mixture having a greater concentration of oxygenthan said intake gas through said second outlet; said first outletproviding a fire-retarding gas mixture for said enclosed environmentswith oxygen content below 12%, but greater than 9%, wherein saidenclosed environment comprises said industrial container and said firstoutlet is coupled to said industrial container; said second outletselectively communicating with outside atmosphere and releasing saidenriched-oxygen gas mixture into said outside atmosphere; said airseparation device employing a membrane an air separator membrane forseparating said intake gas into said reduced-oxygen and enriched-oxygengas mixtures.
 6. The system of claim 2 wherein said first outletproviding a fire-retarding gas mixture for said enclosed environmentswith oxygen content of between 10 % and 12 %.
 7. The system of claim 1wherein said industrial container further comprises a fuel tank.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7 wherein said fuel tank further comprises a mobile fueltank.
 9. The system of claim 2 wherein said first outlet providing afire-retarding gas mixture for said enclosed environments with oxygencontent of between 10 % and 12 %.
 10. The system of claim 2 wherein saidindustrial container further comprises a fuel tank.
 11. The system ofclaim 10 wherein said fuel tank further comprises a mobile fuel tank.12. The system of claim 5 wherein said first outlet providing afire-retarding gas mixture for said enclosed environments with oxygencontent of between 10 % and 12 %.
 13. The system of claim 5 wherein saidindustrial container further comprises a fuel tank.
 14. The system ofclaim 13 wherein said fuel tank further comprises a mobile fuel tank.15. A method for providing a fire-extinguishing atmosphere in enclosedenvironments, comprising: providing a cabinet containing electroniccomponents; providing a compressor having an inlet and a compressed gasoutlet; providing an air separation device having an intake and firstand second outlets, operatively associating said intake and compressedgas outlet and receiving an intake gas under pressure from saidcompressor; coupling said first outlet to said cabinet; emitting areduced-oxygen gas mixture having a lower concentration of oxygen thansaid intake gas through said first outlet and emitting anenriched-oxygen gas mixture having a greater concentration of oxygenthan said intake gas through said second outlet; providing afire-retarding gas mixture for said enclosed environments in saidcabinet with oxygen content below 12 %, but greater than 9 %; releasingsaid enriched-oxygen gas mixture into said outside atmosphere; employinga molecular-sieve adsorber and a collecting tank and operativelyassociating said intake with a distribution valve and distributing saidintake gas to multiple inlets, each inlet communicating with anindividual gas separation container filled with molecular-sieve materialthat under pressure adsorbs nitrogen and water vapors and allows saidenriched-oxygen gas mixture to pass through into said collecting tankcommunicating with said second outlet; operatively associating saidcollecting tank with all said separation containers and receivingselectively said enriched-oxygen gas mixture therefrom; selectivelypressurizing and depressurizing said separation containers in cycles andreleasing during each depressurization cycle said reduced-oxygen gasmixture being delivered into said first outlet; collecting saidenriched-oxygen gas mixture in said collecting tank under increasedatmospheric pressure, so when any of said separation containersdepressurizes, a portion of said enriched-oxygen gas mixture is releasedfrom said tank back into said container purging said molecular sievematerial from remaining nitrogen and water.
 16. A method for producing afire-extinguishing atmosphere in enclosed environments, comprising:providing a cabinet containing electronic components; providing acompressor having an inlet and a compressed gas outlet; providing an airseparation device having an intake and first and second outlets,operatively associating said intake with said compressed gas outlet andreceiving an intake gas under pressure from said compressor; couplingsaid first outlet to said cabinet; emitting a reduced-oxygen gas mixturehaving a lower concentration of oxygen than said intake gas through saidfirst outlet and emitting an enriched-oxygen gas mixture having agreater concentration of oxygen than said intake gas through said secondoutlet; said first outlet providing a fire-retarding gas mixture forsaid enclosed environments in said cabinet with oxygen content below 12%, but greater than 9 %; releasing said enriched-oxygen gas mixturethrough said second outlet into said outside atmosphere; employing amolecular-sieve adsorber and a collecting tank and operativelyassociating said intake with a distribution valve and distributing saidintake gas to multiple inlets, each inlet communicating with anindividual gas separation container filled with molecular-sieve materialthat under pressure adsorbs oxygen and allows said reduced-oxygen gasmixture to pass through into said collecting tank communicating withsaid first outlet; operatively associating said collecting tank with allsaid separation containers and receiving selectively said reduced-oxygengas mixture therefrom; selectively pressurizing and depressurizing incycles and releasing during each depressurization cycle saidenriched-oxygen gas mixture being delivered into said second outlet. 17.The method according to claim 15 and further comprising: providing saiddistribution valve from among one of the group consisting of electrical,mechanical, air piloted and solenoid valves, both linear and rotaryconfiguration, with actuators controlled by pressure, mechanical spring,motor and timer; and communicating said distribution valve with andmounted on a manifold that is selectively communicating with saidmultiple separation containers and said first outlet, and selectivelyallowing periodic access of pressurized air inside said containers andexit of said reduced-oxygen gas mixture therefrom.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 16 and further comprising: providing saiddistribution valve from among one of the group consisting of electrical,mechanical, air piloted and solenoid valves, both linear and rotaryconfiguration, with actuators controlled by pressure, mechanical spring,motor and timer; communicating said distribution valve with and mountedon a manifold that is selectively communicating with said multipleseparation containers and said second outlet, and selectively allowingperiodic access of pressurized air inside said containers and exit ofsaid enriched-oxygen gas mixture therefrom.
 19. The method of claim 16further comprising providing a fire-retarding gas mixture for saidenclosed environments with an oxygen content of between 10 % and 12 %.20. The method of claim 16 wherein providing said electronic componentsfurther comprises providing computer equipment.
 21. The method of claim16 wherein providing a fire-retarding gas mixture for said enclosedenvironments further comprises providing an oxygen content of between 10% and 12 %.
 22. The method of claim 15 wherein providing said electroniccomponents further comprises providing computer equipment.
 23. A methodfor producing a fire-extinguishing atmosphere in enclosed environments,comprising: providing an industrial container containing fire-hazardousmaterial; providing a compressor having an inlet and a compressed gasoutlet; providing an air separation device having an intake and firstand second outlets, operatively associating said intake with saidcompressed gas outlet and receiving an intake gas under pressure fromsaid compressor; coupling said first outlet to said industrialcontainer; emitting a reduced-oxygen gas mixture having a lowerconcentration of oxygen than said received intake gas through said firstoutlet and emitting an enriched-oxygen gas mixture having a greaterconcentration of oxygen than said received intake gas through saidsecond outlet; providing a fire-retarding gas mixture at said firstoutlet to said industrial container with an oxygen content below 12 %,but greater than 9 %; selectively communicating said second outlet withsaid outside atmosphere and releasing said enriched-oxygen gas mixtureinto said outside atmosphere; and employing an air separator membrane insaid air separation device for separating said intake gas into saidreduced-oxygen and enriched-oxygen gas mixtures.
 24. The method of claim26 further comprising providing said fire-retarding gas mixture with anoxygen content of between 10 % and 12 %.
 25. The method of claim 23wherein providing said industrial container further comprises providinga fuel tank.
 26. The method of claim 25 wherein providing said fuel tankfurther comprises providing a mobile fuel tank.